breads bread Couture JOHN U N R EIN The importance of any baker understanding the unique gift Guy Frenkel brings to the bread table is the equivalent of asking the value of a Vera Wang or Michael Kors to the fashion industry: Where would any of us be without someone always pushing the envelope? Frenkel does not work for a prominent bakery or own a retail shop. Rather, he is an award-winning storyteller and a senior creative executive who specializes in multi-platform entertainment in Los Angeles. He also happens to be an influential bread baker whose talents are blossoming to the point where many top names in baking follow Frenkel regularly on Instagram (@ceorbread). "I have the privilege of playing in the R&D department," Frenkel said at the International Artisan Bakery Expo as he prepared a dough with Peruvian purple corn and roasted purple sweet potato that he dehydrated into fine particles. "For me, every dough is a blind date." mind and using the tools at his disposal to make it happen. His pursuit of bread couture is both visually and flavorfully stunning. He experiments with shapes and uses custom-made stencils and creative scoring patterns to make breads that tell a story. He reimagines flavors with inspirations from many cultures. "I am putting in purple corn," he explains of one ingredient, "so it will smell like a tortilla." 46 < MAY 2019 | bakemag.com PHOTOS BY JOHN UNREIN He works like a painter, starting with a concept inhttp://www.instagram.com/ceorbread http://www.bakemag.com